"Normally, if you think about it, the guy doesn't swing at the pitch that he runs on because he's giving him a chance to steal a base," Leyland said. "If you throw a fastball, whether it's a strike or ball, you should have a chance to throw the guy out. So why waste a pitchout if you know the guy is going to take the pitch?"

Leyland said the Royals take more pitches when a runner is attempting to steal a base than other teams. While that doesn't mean pitching out with a runner on first base isn't an option for the Tigers, a pitchout isn't guaranteed to catch the runner either.

"I think we have pitched out a little bit more recently," Leyland said. "We had a guy the other day, we just didn't execute, we dropped the ball. But that's a part of the game, I have no problem with that."